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4. use the DOS commands related to recovery (no confirmation messages just returns to the command prompt without making any changes,

5. use the startup F-keys to bring up or access the recovery menu.

Each time I boot up, a hard drive error screen (SMART hard drive 1 -301, detected imminent failure) appears, although I can still continue and boot up regularly into windows and even safe mode, so no personal files are compromised. The error message only says to do a full system diagnostics test but it finds no errors.

I realized after trying all the internal methods of restarting/restoring my pc that my recovery drive D: was infected by the RAPID virus. Now there are no visible files (except for the infected ones which I deleted) or workable files left on that drive. The drive has been rendered completely useless for recovery.

I don't need to recover my personal files because I can still get into windows. I just can't refresh or reinstall windows, anything pertaining to a system recovery, due to the recovery partition infected by the virus. I don't have any system restore points to fall back on either.

Instead of using a bootable usb drive, data recovery software or partition manager because I cannot restore the missing files back into the same drive that has the recoverable files in it, I was hoping to find a third-party software that can just repair or restore the corrupted drive.

There is no way to get rid of the hard drive error at bootup or use the bootable usb because the recovery drive is no longer usable. Is there a software program that can simply repair the recovery drive without having to turn off or restart the pc or boot up through an external drive? A program that can be installed and run within
windows and just fix the corrupted partition. Or a program to create a new recovery drive while windows is running.

I don't really need to recover any other files just the recovery drive D: itself. Reinstalling is just not possible without that recovery drive.

With the S.M.A.R.T. errors, it sounds like your hard drive is on the way out and will need to be replaced. Any restoration of Windows should probably be done to a new drive. There are options for that, but we need to know exactly what hardware you have.

I figured that the recovery drive just needed to be recovered and that my pc can still be saved because I'm still able to login and perform other functions problem-free. That maybe the SMART hard drive error I'm encountering is due to the RAPID virus attack because the system diagnostics testing doesn't find any errors whatsoever. The only corrupted drive seems to be the recovery drive D:

I'm simply not able to use any of the recovery drive options in windows (F11 key at bootup, create a recovery drive, perform refresh or reinstall windows, etc).

I really don't want to replace my pc/hard drive but would only as a last resort. Still hoping some third-party software or solution as I mentioned in my initial post can be found.

A S.M.A.R.T. error would not have anything to do with a virus or malware, it indicates a failing drive.

If the recovery drive is corrupted, which we have not yet been able to verify, you won't be able to use it for recovery.

We need to know the make and model of your computer, so we know what hardware you have to work with.

You may be able to clone the failing drive to a new one, keeping all of your files and software, but in addition to the software to do that (some of which is available for free), you need a way to connect a second hard drive to the system, and we don't know if you have that capability.

The recovery drive was the only infected part of my computer. Since the virus attack over a week ago the drive is now empty yet the properties show some space used (65mb). There are no errors on it when I ran the error check tool. It is just empty.

I've been using my pc despite the hard drive error and I can still get into safe mode, load the BIOS, run diagnostics, etc. The C: drive is intact and error-free. A lot of things point to the D: recovery drive as the source of these problems since the virus only affected the D: drive and fortunately not the entire C: drive.

And what about the failure or inability to boot from my usb drive? Even though it is the first drive in the BIOS to boot from my pc still won't recognize it. So I can't use the bootable drive to reinstall windows anyway.

I have already given you the specs about my pc that I could locate via my pc info in my previous post. What else do you require?

That maybe the SMART hard drive error I'm encountering is due to the RAPID virus attack because the system diagnostics testing doesn't find any errors whatsoever.

I doubt that the virus cause the SMART error. SMART is an internal diag by the hard drive that is independent of the OS. You'd need to run the hard drive manufacturer's diags, not just the "system" diags to be sure.

You need to provide the exact make and model so that we can look up the details. If you take your car to the mechanic, they'd need to know the make, model, and year so that they can run the right diags and order the right parts.

I've been using my pc despite the hard drive error and I can still get into safe mode, load the BIOS, run diagnostics, etc. The C: drive is intact and error-free.

Then you need to back up your data to another drive ASAP. SMART is warning you BEFORE the drive fully fails.

And what about the failure or inability to boot from my usb drive?

Did you test the boot drive on another computer? Did you try a different known-good bootable USB drive? You never said how you created the bootable USB drive, or even what kind of bootable drive you made.

Virus/malware infections rarely infect only a recovery drive. You may still have other undetected issues on the C: drive. Or, the S.M.A.R.T. error may be the cause of the D: drive issues. But we really don't know, since we don't have any specs. We don't even know if the C: and D: partitions are on the same drive or not, or whether this is a laptop of desktop system.

If this is an off-the-shelf system from HP, Dell, Lenovo, or some other manufacturer, there should be a sticker on it somewhere that has the make (HP, Dell, Lenovo, etc.) and model number. Post that information. If the sticker is missing or this is a custom built system, you may need something like Belarc or Speccy to give you a list of the hardware (motherboard make and model, and drive(s) make(s) and model(s). Once we know EXACTLY what hardware you have to work with, we can devise a plan to get your issues resolved. Until we have this information, anything we suggest is unlikely to work, since it may require hardware you don't have or software that won't work on your computer.

If this were my computer, with the symptoms as described, here is what I would do:

1. Use disk imaging / cloning software such as Acronis or similar, and create a full disk image of the partitions onto another hard drive (either on another computer on my network or on a USB hard drive).

Thanks mr. mod for your assistance but I've just decided that replacing the drive is not an option at this moment. I guess that would be the last resort. Any other methods or suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

There really aren't any other options at this point. Since you can't boot from a USB device, you probably won't be able to restore the recovery partition with the drive in the computer. You would need to get the recovery media from HP to do that also - see the link in post #9. You could try calling HP to see what the recommend. The drive is failing anyway, so even if you get it restored, it likely won't last long before it fails completely.